Evanescent and Enduring
by the point
Summary: His feelings remained constant throughout their lives, even after he betrayed their village and swore to destroy it. Since then their encounters, however brief, were a testament of his affections before he'd vanish again.He knew, always, that he was hers.
1. One

**This will be short and sweet, and it will get bitterer and bitterer as it goes on. All chapters will be 1-3 pages long. I know this because I've already finished this in, about, six hours today, but I'm debating as to when I should update.**

**Evanescent and Enduring**** is really my own challenge to myself. Since I've written so many NaruHina stories, I figured I should try a SasuHina. I hope I do them justice cause, really, I love Hinata with just about any guy. And, seriously, she deserves whoever the heck she wants! :)**

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter One**

When they first met, he knew instantly that he was hers. Perhaps it was in the way she had shyly peaked out from behind her mother's robes, or how her porcelain face had peered up from under her doll-like bangs, or how her eyes had been so large and round and white and endless and endless and endless like the pale moon or a candle during a blackout… Or perhaps he was only five years old and did not yet understand how fanatic girls could be until he entered the Ninja Academy.

But regardless, he was hers the moment he laid eyes on her.

He stole a glance at her as they knelt by the koi pond, marvelling at the way her hair brushed against her cheek and how she had curled her knees into herself like something soft and warm. Back at the Uchiha Main House, their parents were discussing clan matters and, briefly, he told himself that he should be in there with them, with his brother, but he just couldn't tear himself away from this living porcelain figure.

She was so delicate, her bone structure frail and complexion pale, that she nearly glowed under the moon and the stars that night; her eyes shimmering silver in the reflection of the pool. He felt his throat catch when they flickered, ever so faintly, to meet his dark ones, and he quickly turned away, his face burning with the shame of getting caught. _His brother would have never gotten caught_. Then again, his brother would probably never have an interest in a girl anyway…

Slowly, very slowly, he reached his hand out for hers. He didn't know where his courage came from, or why he wanted to hold her hand, but when his fingers wrapped out her baby-soft ones, he felt his stomach flip upside down and a thrilling chill run up his spine. He found himself tightening his grip when she tried to tug out of it, and then after a few feeble attempts of trying to get out of his grasp, she finally relented and held her hand still.

He let his hair and the night hide his smile as he gingerly threaded his fingers through hers, a soft, shivering caress that left him dizzy and nearly incapacitated. In the silent of that night, of their first meeting, he would remember forever the pulse at her wrist beating against his own, a steady _thump, thump_, and how they slowly synced together into the same pace:

Fast and breathless.

She may not know it then, but he had known it the moment he had first caught sight of her.

He was hers.

xxx

**the point**


	2. Two

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter Two**

He did not come to see the baby. He had no intention of seeing the baby. He had arrived under false pretences just to see _her_, but his mother didn't need to know that as they entered the Hyuga Main House. He supposed he should have known better when the Lady Hyuga said that she was in the nursery… with the baby he did not want to see. Thwarted, he supposed, in trying to avoid the newborn, but as a consolation prize he would get to be alone with her… sans the baby, of course.

She was by the crib, watching that… _thing_ sleep, and he felt himself soften and his expression grow gentle as he slipped his hand into hers, so easily and so naturally that she did not even startle. She was used to it by now, his warmth, his touch, his presence like glowing coals in the hearth. And he smiled, knowing this too, and pressed his forehead into her shoulder when she did not acknowledge him.

She was too focused on her baby sister, had been too focused on the baby for _months_, to either give his hand a squeeze or to turn her smile to him. He would never say it, but he was beginning to feel like she didn't care about him at all… not that he was expecting her to feel for him like he did for her. He believed that _no one_ could feel for another like he did for her, but still… he only wanted a warm caress or for her eyes to fall on him, however briefly.

The baby moved in her crib and she watched her sister move with awe, her eyes wide and round, and her mouth in an "o" shape. She was really pretty, he knew, and had been growing even prettier as the months go by. He could imagine her being _beautiful_ in a few years and his hand tightened around hers at the thought, for surely others would find her beautiful too.

She giggled when her baby sister's feet kicked at her small pink quilt, and he felt a shiver run through his small body at her laugh. It was like wind chimes in spring, or snowfall in winter, or that irrevocable warmth that settled over him just before sleep overtook him.

She gasped when his lips brushed against her cheek, and he was finally rewarded with her attention when she faced him in shock, her face growing red just as his grew hot. But he smiled – _smirked_ – when all he could see in her eyes was him, finally.

He breathed her name and then kissed her again on her other cheek, a soft touch that left his toes curling and heart jumping and his fingers to weave ever tighter around hers. She smelled wonderful, a tingling of rain and lilacs and everything good in the world… a warmth that made his chest hot and his lungs wanting to burst.

A minute later and he was holding his throbbing cheek.

He supposed he had deserved the slap.

He smirked again at her blushing face and upheaval appearance, disregarding his equally blushing face and upheaval appearance.

But it had been worth it.

xxx

**the point**


	3. Three

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter Three**

He did not wait for explanations. He did not remain on the hospital bed for them to come with the news he already knew. He did not want them to recall all that blood and tears and screams he, himself, had laid witness to some hours ago. No. He did not wait until he had recovered before jumping out of the window, into the wind and rain, and into hers.

They did not understand. They _could not_ understand. Only she. Only she understood him. Only she _could_ understand him. And as he pried open her bedroom window, the curtains lashing in the night storm, he felt his body shake from a sob he dared not let himself have. He was a boy. He was a man. Boys and men _did not_ cry, even under such trying circumstances, even under such pressure, even under such a nightmare that haunted him in his dreams, in his life, in his very _existence_.

She sat up from her bed when he landed in her room, all wet and cold from the rain outside. He was not trembling from the cold, or the wind, or the rain. He was trembling because of the tears he could not stop, and he felt infinitely relieved when she did not ask – infinitely _warm_ and _loved_ when she opened her arms up to him instead.

He did not think. He only responded, launching himself into her arms and wrapping his arms around her waist, his fingers digging into her pyjamas and crushing his face into the crook of her neck. She said nothing when he finally let himself cry, finally let himself fall because he knew he could do so in her scent of rain and lilacs, in her fathomless white eyes, in her warmth and softness and gentleness.

And when he felt her hand on his back and her fingers threading through his hair, he knew, once again, that he was hers and there would never be any other but her. Crying into her throat, he let her lead him down onto the bed and felt her pull the comforter over them. He did not let go of her waist, did not lift his face from her neck, did not remove himself from her because he understood, they both understood, that in that moment, in that night, in that bed, she was his anchor and if she were to let go – there would be no saving him.

She kissed his forehead and he shuddered, his tears beginning to recede. He did not tell her what had happened, because if he did, then that would make it all true and he hated the truth. He hated how the doctors had examined him, hated how the nurses looked to him with pity, hated how the Sandaime had sighed in sympathy.

They did not understand. They _could not_ understand. They had never lost their whole clan in one night. They had not heard their mother pleading for her life before she had been slain. They had not watched their father being impaled in the darkness. _They had not watched the one man they loved most kill all the others they loved most_.

She breathed his name, a warm breath that fluttered over his forehead, and leaned in to kiss his cheek. But he turned, just in time, to catch her lips with his own, tears and snot smeared over his face. But she did not pull away, and he did not pull away, only fumbled to feel more of her lips on his.

Seven and eight, they were mere children seeking warmth and companionship. He, especially, sought out for comfort, a reprieve from his memories of the end of his family, and she gave it to him by holding him close as they fell asleep, both soaked from the rain and shivering in the cold – their body heat mixing into a lukewarm.

Her heart mirrored his, he noted as they drifted off into sleep, a soothing lullaby that placed a smile on his lips.

xxx

**the point**


	4. Four

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter Four**

They were chasing him again, goddamn it, a fanatic mass of girls (and a number of boys) varying from the ages of prepubescent to married. It was as if they had no shame, or even a brain. Even the dumbest person out there (including that idiot blond from his class) could figure out that he _just wasn't interested_. Instead, they continued to clamour around him, screeching his name and proclaiming that they were willing to have his babies. They were stupid if they thought he'd have his children suffer through their madness.

He rushed up the side of a building and proceeded to dash along the roofs, easily leaving the mob behind him as he zigzagged through the village. If they couldn't even keep up with him on feet, then there were no chances of them keeping up in bed. He smirked. They didn't deserve his affections or even his thoughts, even if they _were_ filled with him cursing them.

He saw her house and quickly bypassed the guards and into her window. He didn't even falter when he saw her coming out from her ensuite in nothing but a white, fluffy towel. She blushed. He smirked. She really was becoming the beauty he had first imagined her to be so many years ago… It didn't help that they were now on the cusp of puberty and she was everything he ever wanted and needed and ever dreamt of.

Her pale complexion glowing after her shower. Her white eyes glimmering from being caught in a dubious position. Her cheeks painted red from embarrassment. She might as well give him a "come hither" look because he _really_ couldn't keep his eyes off her.

He moved forward and felt his blood heat when she did not step back, or even attempt to hide from him. He had never given her a reason to fear him, or to believe that he would harm her, and he praised himself then, at that moment in her bedroom with her half naked and him sinking deeper into the darkness, for moving so carefully with her, so slow with her, that when he took her by the hand, she weaved her fingers into his.

He touched his forehead to hers and she filled him with the scent of rain and lilacs. He shuddered, as he always did, when he was so close to her, enough to feel the heat of her skin and taste the lip chap on her mouth. It was always painful for him, day after day, to pretend like he didn't know her – didn't know her scent, her touch, her kisses – when they were at the Academy. It always made him bitter and hurt to see her, but never acknowledge her. He despised himself for being who he was and looking like he looked. He _hated_ his fangirls because he knew what they would do to her if they knew… if they knew…

"S-Sasuke…" she breathed over his lips.

His thoughts dizzied and he nuzzled the side of her face, breathing her in and feeling the pulse at her throat beating against his cheek. "Hinata…"

She tilted her head back and he did not complain, tracing her jaw with his lips before descending on her own with relish. They both shivered, having missed contact for days now, having him not being able to visit her for days now, having his damn fangirls picketing at his apartment building.

He growled and wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her body against his own – her soft against his hard, his tongue now tracing the seam of her lips. She opened for him and they groaned when his tongue slipped in, and she fell back onto her bed, and their lips broke contact, and he pulled back with a heady gasping for air.

She sat up, pulling the towel closer to her body as he laid his head on her lap, his fingers tracing the curve of her thigh and the back of her knee. They were breathless and speechless, only the sound of their beating hearts and heavy breaths in the room. But it was alright. It was moments like this, suspended in heat and comfort, that he cherished the most. It was the moments like this, in her embrace with his skin touching hers, that he adored the most.

Her fingers combed through his hair and he closed his eyes to relish the feeling, her nails sending shivers down his neck and spine. He groaned when she touched the back of his ear and his arms wrapped around her waist to hold her close. She knew just how to undo him, just how to break him, just how to _destroy_ him, and yet he did not think of her as a weakness, but a strength he just couldn't live without…

"I missed you," she confessed, planting a kiss at his temple.

"Hn," he sounded absentmindedly, smirking into her thigh.

And they both knew that he had missed her too.

xxx

**the point**


	5. Five

**WARNING: Have upped the ****Rating to M****. No smex. Only mentions of smex in next chapter.**

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter Five**

He had to see her before he left. She was the one thing he was sure he would regret and miss, but it had to be done. Orochimaru had promised him power, and he would be a fool to not take it. He had to avenge his clan. He knew it. Everybody knew it. And mostly importantly, _she_ knew it, and she would never stand in his way in his quest for vengeance… and he adored her even more with that knowledge, with the knowledge that she would let him go because she understood that he needed to.

Not wanted to. No, he never would _want_ to leave her, but…

He _needed_ to. It was his one singular goal, and then afterwards, with much anticipation and relief on his part, he could finally be with her. Not just in kisses or hugs, but truly _be_ with her – wholly and without obstruction. Finally, he would be able to give all of him to her, not just a part of him because a part of him would always be with his brother.

It was not just about vengeance.

It was getting his life back because she deserved all of him and everything he was and ever could be.

He climbed through her window, for perhaps the last time for years to come, and saw her asleep. She did not wake at his presence, and he could not fault her for it. After that trying Chunin battle with her asshat of a cousin… He fisted his hands and gritted his teeth. He would kill her cousin for what he had done to her.

He slowly made his way to her and softly sat down by her side, brushing a few strands of her hair from her face. He traced the contours of her face – the rise of her cheeks, the curve of her nose, the outline of her lips… He had every intention of memorizing her features in those brief minutes he had with her…

His chest twisted at the thought of leaving her… but it had to be done.

Planting a soft kiss on her forehead, he pressed a jade pendant into her hand and turned to the window.

"Sasuke…" she sighed in her sleep.

He paused and felt his resolve breaking. He so badly wanted to go back and kiss her again, hold her again, breathe in her scent again… But he had to go. The nightmares still haunted him in his sleep, and his only reprieve had been her in the day. But now… Now he had to vanquish them altogether. Then, and only then, would he be free from his past and made whole for her again.

"I love you," he whispered.

It was the first time he had ever spoken those words, and she wasn't even awake to hear them. He would have to try harder next time, he thought with a bitter smile. And there would be a next time because, by the Gods, it would take all of Hell and Heaven to keep him from her.

With a wistful smile, pausing briefly to admire the way her lashes glowed in the moonlight, he climbed out of the window and out of Konoha for years to come…

And when he was finally gone, leaving behind the scent of pine and smoke, she let the tear fall from the corner of her eye. Fingers clenching around the jade pendant he had left behind, she placed the ornament to her lips – the Uchiha Fan engraved into the precious stone – and let out a quiet sob. He had said nothing about his visit, but she understood. She was perhaps the only one who truly understood him.

He was going after his brother.

"I love you too," she whispered, trying to hold back the tears but couldn't.

She knew he would come back. She sobbed. He _had_ to come back.

Because he had always been hers.

xxx

**the point**


	6. Six

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter Six**

They met again three years later. He had just killed Orochimaru and she had just perfected her Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, and his Team Taka was busy distracting her Team Eight somewhere off in the far… far… very far depths of the forest. She understood then, when his lips crashed into hers, that he had planned for this… planned for them to be alone… planned for his arms to snake behind her waist to crush her now womanly soft curves to his manly hard muscles.

He was more handsome than she remembered, than she had imagined – taller, hair darker, eyes harder, and-

She moaned when his tongue slipped into her mouth, prodding hard and determined against her own before laying possession over her teeth and the back of her throat. He was not gentle, like she remembered. He was not patient, like she remembered. He was not kind, like she remembered… but she could have cared less as she pressed just as insistently into him, her hands grasping at his neck and hair because _she just couldn't let him go again_.

He slammed her back against the nearest tree – hard and painful – but she groaned because the hurt was proof that this was real, he was real, and that they were real together. And she gasped when he bit into her collarbone and his hands snaked under her jacket and…

"S-Sas-"

He kissed her, firm and punishing, because they both knew that he didn't want to hear her say his name. And she knew, wholeheartedly, that he was ashamed. She knew that he hadn't wanted this to be like _this_, but they missed each other too much to stop or to want for anything less.

She pressed into him to say that she wanted it too and he hissed into her breasts because it just felt _that wonderful_. The heat, the touch of their skins, the caress of their lashes and hair… It had been too long and they were too intoxicated and too pressed for time to truly enjoy it or to slow down or to make it a befitting memory because of their circumstances.

Her breath hitched when she felt him under his clothes, and she was more than ready, and-

It was their first time.

It would not be their last.

And in the aftermath of their fucking, because making love was something they would save for later when they had the time to cherish one another, he whispered his farewell into her bare stomach before vanishing in a flicker, leaving behind the scent of pine and smoke.

She did not cry. She did not regret. Instead, she dressed herself and pressed the Uchiha Crest he had left behind three years ago to her heart. He had seen it earlier, his promise to her, and had closed his eyes to it because he had hated himself for taking her so roughly, so dishonourably and so shamefully. But she did not blame him for it, because she had been just as rough and dishonourable and shameful.

She brushed the twigs from her hair and let out a shuddering breath, his words of goodbye still ringing in her ear:

"I will return to you."

xxx

**the point**


	7. Seven

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter Seven**

He had deliberately sought her out when she was in the midst of training, with nowhere to run, with nowhere to hide, and with her laid bare before him and the roaring waterfall in the background and the water-mist as her only cover. She hadn't known what to do at first, only to realize that he had come alone, just as she was training alone – their teams were nowhere near and nowhere to be found.

It had been months since their last encounter and she wanted to run to him and hold him close and whisper sweet nothings in his ear, but… She hesitated because his expression was one she recognized from years before, from when she was seven and he was eight, from when he had lost everything in one night save for her and her being his necessary anchor.

His face was blank, but it was his eyes that made her open her arms to him and he slid soundless into her embrace, his clothes soaking in the waterfall just like that night so many years ago; both of them suspended above the surface of the river. He clung to her and she wound an arm around his waist and another around his neck, holding him to her breast as they both sunk onto their knees in both fatigue and pain and relief.

"Sasuke…"

He did not stop her from saying his name this time as he let himself be swallowed into her arms and trying, and failing, to keep himself from trembling. She felt him press his face into her bare stomach and could feel his tears, silent and heartbreaking, slide down her thighs. She curved over his shaking form to hold him even closer and kissed his hair, his temple, the back of his neck – anywhere if it would only soften his cries and dry his tears.

"Sasuke…."

His arms tightened around her waist and then _he told her everything_. With the waterfall sounding in the background and the river twinkling in the fore – in-between she heard _everything_. He had killed his brother. His clan had organized a coup all those years ago. His brother had killed everyone for the sake of their village. His brother had killed their family under the orders of Danzo. He now had his brother's eyes. He was now partnered with _Madara Uchiha_. He now wanted _to destroy Konoha_…

She cried for him, with him, everything about him as she held him near. She had never been afraid of him, will never be afraid of him, but she feared for her village. She understood that he was now very powerful and, if he wanted, he _would_ and _could_ destroy her home in one fell swoop… and she would not stop him, could not hope to stop him because she understood, more than anyone she or he knew, that this was what he must do and she… she… she…

"I love you," she whispered into his ear, a soft chime against the harsh waterfall and hard wind.

He kissed her. It was not hard. It was not painful. It was not unkind. _It was what she remembered_. It was soft, and gentle, and careful, as if he feared that he would break her, and his arms tightened around her when she gave off a soft sigh. She let him ease her back onto the river as he trailed kisses down her throat and the valley of her breasts, lingering over her heart and the Uchiha Crest she had wound around her neck.

He looked to her and she nearly cried at the gentleness in his eyes, at the adoration and devotion he had for her and-

She felt her breath catch as he dispensed with his own clothes and pressed himself onto her – their skins heating and bursting at the contact. He was hard and she was soft, and they were both ready and they slid into one another…

In the middle of the day, with the sun over head, the river below, and the green woods dancing in the wind… _they made love for the first time_.

"I love you," she whispered again.

He kissed her, nipping at her lower lip and then brushing his nose against her ear.

"I will return to you," he promised again.

And then he was gone again, the scent of pine and smoke in the air.

xxx

**the point**


	8. Eight

**Evanescent and Enduring**

**Chapter Eight**

He had done it. He was _doing_ it. He was laying waste to Konoha. Madara was long gone from the efforts of the Ninja Alliance, Naruto was in the intensive care ward in the hospital, and no one could hope to stop him. From the Hyuga Compound, she could hear the screams of the citizens and the downing of Konoha's greatest ninjas. The village was to fall by sun down.

He had yet to touch the Hyuga; his army had been ordered to leave it to the last, she knew it even if she hadn't been there to hear him say it.

As the sky seeped red from the fires and blood, she calmly trimmed the lilacs in the garden. Her cousin and her sister were at her side, one fearing for her life and the other agitated that they were not out there helping their comrades. But they understood, just as much as she, that the enemy _was not going to touch them_. They understood, just as much as she, that the Uchiha _would never touch them_.

She had worn her most expensive and most beautiful kimono for him, had decorated her hair with the most elaborate jewels and pins for him, had painted her face with the most delicate and breath-taking make-up for him. Just for him. She had not warned her own village of his coming destruction… just for him. Everything – _just for him_.

She couldn't help but be a little spiteful as she clipped, a little vindictively, a lilac bloom from the bush. She would think that he would be grateful for her – that he _better be_ grateful for her. She turned to her sister, who carefully slipped the blossom in her hair and stepped back with a nod. Her sister had been waiting for this day as well…

The front gate of the Hyuga Compound splintered open in a reverberating _crash_, but she didn't even blink as she strolled to the koi pond. She hoped that the koi would not be too disturbed by the invasion. He had always liked koi fish.

"Hinata-sama!" her cousin called out in alarm.

She did not move or even startle when she felt the giant sword at her neck, just below her neck. From the corner of her eye, she saw that it was one of the members of Team Taka, a grinning madness of a sword master.

"I wonder what he'll do," he speculated, "if I were to kill you."

"He would kill you," she replied with certainty.

They did not doubt that he would, and the sword master grinned and lowered his sword, turning to her sister instead, who was just as impassive as she was. Always a Hyuga…

Soon an Uchiha.

There was madness to be had in the Hyuga Compound then as she heard screams from the servant quarters and blood spill from the guard towers. She frowned, a delicate movement that did not deter from her beauty, and believed that he would not take kindly to what his army was doing to her clan.

In fact, as one ignorant ninja came up to her with a sword ready to slit her if she were not to obey his advances, she merely stepped aside just enough to avoid her kimono from being bloodied when he ran his own katana through his own man who had dared to eye her with anything but reverence and devotion.

In the background, she could hear his other men and women stop their attack on her clan and she graced him with a smile.

"Sasuke," she breathed.

He looked like a God, all bloodied and hard – his eyes a fathomless black and his expression blank – his clothes ruffled, opened to show his torso and abs, and he cared nothing more about Konoha when he laid his eyes on her again.

And again, he knew that he was hers.

She let out a surprised squeak when his arm wound around her waist and drew her to his hard chest, her kimono staining red in an instant, and he kissed her hard and sure and absolutely enamoured. His tongue pried open her mouth and she moaned, softening against his body, and she even let out a protesting whine when he finally withdrew.

He smirked at her pout.

"I have returned," he said, as if that made up for all these years…

And it did.

She smiled and kissed his throat, a soft brush that made him shudder with want and obsession.

"I love you, Sasuke," she whispered above his heart.

He pulled back just enough to look her in the eye, and smirked when he sure that she was awake this time.

"I love you too, Hinata," he returned, a little hoarse, a little rough, but every bit truthful and dedicated.

And then he dipped his head to capture her lips again, as searing as the wildfire that swept through the village and burning it to the ground. Their union was baptized in the flames of his destruction, the ashes of their once beloved village… and consummated that night in her bedroom, among the broken window and the dust of the hollowed village.

Finally, they both knew, she was his too.

**End**

xxx

**the point**


End file.
